One man’s bid to pardon Merthyr Tydfil’s most famous martyr

Mark Sims, 63, from Twynrodyn, is campaigning to secure a posthumous royal pardon for Dic Penderyn

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A history enthusiast from Merthyr Tydfil has set out on a campaign to secure a royal pardon for famous martyr Dic Penderyn.

Mark Sims, from Twynrodyn, believes Merthyr’s working-class hero should receive a posthumous pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

Penderyn – born Richard Lewis in Aberavon in 1808 – was hanged in 1831 after being found guilty of stabbing a soldier during the 1831 Merthyr Rising riots.

The event is considered to be the first incident of organised workers’ unrest against low wages and poor conditions in the world following the Industrial Revolution.

Yet Penderyn was widely believed to have been innocent of the crime – by people at the time and modern day historians.

Mark, 63, came up with the idea after writing a poem, The Red Flag, about the uprising and after studying for a course in local heritage at the University of South Wales.

He said: “We have named buildings after him and there is a plaque outside the library. Yet he is still a convicted criminal.

“He was innocent. They knew at the time he was innocent and even William Crawshay put money towards his defence but the lord secretary at the time needed somebody to punish as a warning.

“We regard him as a martyr rightly so. Given the overwhelming evidence available today and the amount of support declaring his innocence at the time, it seems obvious that he was murdered by vested interests.”

Mark, who used to work for the RAF and was also a Hoover employee for 31 years, has written to Huw Lewis AM and the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling MP, for support.

He is now trying to launch a petition to gather signatures from locals and visitors in a bid to put his campaign before the Welsh Assembly.